Conveying mechanism



Sept. 27, w ONEILL 1,879,819

CONVEYING MECHANISM Filed June 11. 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 .Sept. 27, 1932. w. J. O'NEILL 1,379,819

CONVEYING MECHANISM Filed June 11, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 27, 1932 UNIT D ST .WILLIAM' J. ONEILL, or RIV R ronnsr,

ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR To MnRoI rLArINe EQUIPMENT COMPANY, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A coI-tronArIoiv or ILLINOIS CONVEYING Application ifiled June 11,

My invention relates to conveying mechanism of the class employing motor driven reels and load supportingcables adapted to be wound upon the reels and supporting means for the reels permitting'the reels to be shifted to various positions to suit the locations of the loads to be lifted, transported and lowered thereby. The reel of suchan equipment includes an adjusting arm suitably assembled therewith and accessible remotely from the reel for shifting it.

My invention resides, generally speaking, in the provision of controlling means for causing such a reel to be turned in either direction by themotor that is employed to operate it and means accompanying this means and inclusive of a controlling member assembled with the aforesaid arm and alsoaccessible remotely from said reel for manual operation. The motor is preferably an electric motor which, in accordance with my invention, is provided with a switch controlling the motorcircuit in a mannertochange the direction of the motor to wind or'unwind the cable. This switch is also desirably assembledwith the reel to travel'therewith and the motor, also, is desirably assembled with the reel to also travel therewith. The supporting means for the reel and motor is'preferfrom manual control.

ably inclusive of a track anda truck traveling upon the track and carrying the reel and motor. Automatically operating means are desirably also employed for placing the motor in open circuit when the switch is released I will explain my invention more fully by reference to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation taken crosswise of the track, which is shown in section, some parts being broken away and shown in section; Fig. 2. is a side elevation of the structure shown inFig. 1;'Fig. 3 is a sectional View on line 8 3 of Fig. 2, on a larger scale; Fig. i is a sectional view on line 44 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a diagram illus trating a preferred circuit arrangement.

A track 1, preferably of I-beam construction, is arranged along the course of travel of the load supporting cable 2. A truck 3 is provided with wheels A which ride upon MECHANISM 1 1 930. Serial No." 460,365.

the bottom flanges of the track rail, as ll'ldl:

ing 5, as indicated in Fig. 1, and the'other end attached to the reel whereby the cable may be wound and unwound. Where one end of the'cable is anchored as illustrated a sheave 10 is disposed in the shifting bight thereof. A load engaging hook ll is pro- 5 'vided with a stirrup 12which is 'journaled upon the sheave shaft. H

An adjusting arm composed of angularly related tubular: sections 13-1t jrigidly coupled, byanelbow 15jis secured, by ,its section 13, to the angular bracket 16 which is .boltedto the housing 5, thearm section 13 being seated within the angle of thebracket. The arm section 13 is horizontal and the arm section 14 is vertical and depends a suflicient distance; to make it accessible. When the motor and reel are to be shifted the lower end of the armsection llis grasped and pulled or pushed upon to move the motor and reelon the track 1 in the direction desiredm A three phase alternating current motor is desirably employed inwhich case the cir- V cuit arrangement illustrated in Fig. 5 ispreferred- In this arrangement the three phase generator 17 is provided with terminal contact brushes 18, 19 and20. The three phase motor 7 isv provided withterminal brushes 21, 22 and 23. Theswitching mechanism for governing the motor circuit to cause the motor to turn in one direction or the other to correspondingly turn the reel and correspondingly lift or lower the load supporting hook 11 is desirably provided upon a square operating shaft 24. This shaft carries three groups of contacts, one group containing four contacts 25 that are spaced ninety degrees apart andar'e provided upon and electrically connected with .and by metallic spokes 26 having a common metallic hub 27 which is fixed upon, but insulated from the shaft 24,

other groups. One of the contacts 28 has an. extension 28 extending along the shaft to be" engageable with a contiguous contact 23. One of the contacts 29 also has an extension 29 extending along the shaft to be engageable with a contiguous contact 22. The shaft 24 is provided with means to be described, whereby it may be turned in one direction to close the motor circuit in one way to cause the motor to be turned in one direction and whereby said shaft may be turned in an opposite direction to close the motor circuit in an alternative way to reverse the direction of rotation of the motor. are provided for restoring said shaft to a normal position in which the motor circuit is open. The automatic means illustrated is desirably inclusive of an arm 30 anchored upon one end of the shaft 24, a pin 31 carried upon this arm and extending along the shaft, a second pin 32 stationarily mounted upon the housing and also extending along the aforesaid shaft, unmounted end portions of these pins being in lapping relation, and a floating coil spring 33 wound about the shaft 24 and embracing said pins between its ends, as illustrated in Figs. 1, 3 and 5. -When the shaft 24 is turned in eitherdirection from normal, one or the other of the ends of said spring is moved away from the pin 32 by the pin 31, the shaft being obviously restored to its normal position when circuit closing operation thereof ceases. The means for turning the aforesaid shaft in one direction or the other to cause rotation of the motor in one direction or the other is desirably inclusive of an arm 34 which springs from the arm 30, an arm 35 upon an operating shaft section 36, a link 37 uniting the arms 34 and 35, a bevel gear 38 upon the shaft section 36, a bevel gear 39 meshing with the bevel gear 38 on another operating shaft section 40. The operating shaft section 36 desirably passes through the bore of the tubular arm section 13. The operating shaft section 40 desirably passes through the bore of the tubular arm section 14. The contiguous'ends of the operating shaft sections 13 and 14 are desirably journaled in the elbow 15. The operating shaft section 40 desirably projects downwardly through the tubular arm section 14 and terminates in ahandle 41, where- Automatic means tion 36 to cause the switch shaft 24 to be turned in one direction or the other to close the motor switch in one manner or the other to cause the motor to turn in the selected direction. The lower part of the arm section 14 and the handle 41 are conveniently positioned remotely from the motor and reel,

:Whereby such motor and reel may readily be shifted to shift the location of the load supporting hook as desired, it being unnecessary for the operator to shift his o-Wn'location in order to control the direction of rotation of the motor and reel afterhaving shifted such motor and reelsuitably to the location of the load to be lifted and the place where the load is to be deposited. After the load has been lifted or lowered, the handle is remotor in open circuit. A skillful-operator might continue to hold the handle in circuit closing position during the time or during a part-of the time that the load is being shifted, the handle to be released when the load has been sufficiently. lifted or lowered in order that the motor may then be stopped. Allof these advantages are procurable by the structure of my invention which is also a simplification of the controlling mechanism hitherto employed. 2

. Changes may be made without departing from the invention.

, Having thus described my invention, I claim:

Ina conveying mechanism, including a wheeled truck having a motor operated hoist 111g reel mounted thereon, a housing for the reel, an adjustingarm extending a substantial distance from the reel and comprising a rigid horizontal tubular section having its in ner end secured to the. reel housing and its outer end extending laterally a substantial distance of the line of travel of the reel, a hollow elbow rigidly secured to the outer leased whereupon thespring33 places the end of the horizontal section, a depending hollow vertical section rigidly secured at its up- In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe q my name.

WILLIAM J. ONEILL- by it may be turned in either direction to correspondingly turn the operating shaft sec- 

